Previous image preload Next image preload
Back to catalog
Lot 5
image_0 image_1
Rare Costa Rican Jade Figural Celt (2 pcs)
Rare Costa Rican Jade Figural Celt (2 pcs)
image_0 image_1
Description:

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Guanacaste-Nicoya, ca. 250 to 600 CE. A rare set of jade celts, each intended to match up with the neighboring piece almost flawlessly. The celt components each bear half of an anthropomorphic face - its features string-cut atop the convex surface before being rigorously polished - with a shallow eye drilled between sweeping brows, a triangular nose, and a bar-shaped mouth, all framed within a heart-shaped profile. A shallow-cut groove delineates the bottom of each face from the top of the blade-shaped lower body. A textured seam down the middle shows how both halves were connected at one time. Each half can be suspended via a drilled hole along the top of the brow as shown. Size of each (both are relatively similar): 2.42" L x 0.79" W x 0.37" H (6.1 cm x 2 cm x 0.9 cm)

The value of jade in the Pre-Columbian world lay in its symbolic power; scholars believe its color was associated with water and vegetation. Costa Rica, along with Mesoamerica, is one of the two regions where jade was extensively carved in the Pre-Columbian world. The earliest example of worked jade, a pendant excavated from a burial site on the Nicoya Peninsula, dated to the mid-first millennium BCE. It appears that jade continued to be carved into personal ornaments, usually depicting anthropomorphic deities or animals such as birds, monkeys, crocodiles, serpents, or frogs, until approximately 700 CE when gold became the favored material to fashion such ornaments.

Provenance: ex-private West Palm Beach, Florida, USA collection; ex-Woram collection, acquired 2018

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#187113

  • Condition: Each half with minor roughness along longest periphery, otherwise intact and excellent. Great preservation to string-cut features, and nice surface smoothness throughout.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Shipping

Auction House will ship, at Buyer's expense

June 14, 2024 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of up to 27.5% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000